Apparatus for exhibiting merchandise



Jan. 15, 1929.

G. J. SEGAL APPARATUS FOR EXHIBITING MERCHANDISE Filed 0 1;. 1927 INVENTOR. GEORGE J. SEGAL ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 15, 1929.

UNITED STATES GEORGE J. SEGAL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR EXHIBITING MERCHANDISE.

Application filed October 6, 1927. Serial No. 224,428.

This invention relates to an ap aratus for displaying merchandise intendec for sale, and more particularly to an apparatus which is operableto automatically and successively present a. series of articles such as rugs and thelike, before the view of a prospective purchaser or of the public generally.

Heretofore one of the usual practices employed in connection with the display and exhibition of rugs has been to individually suspend a number of rugs from heavy overhead frames or racks arranged to swing about a common vertical axis. Due to the fact that the weight of the rugs is often considerable, these frames or racks are subjected to great stresses, it being necessary, in order to offset this, to employ special reinforcing and strengthening members. Not only do these latter members make the racks heavy and cumbersome, and consequently difiicult to move and at the same time expensive to construct, but there is the further and important objection that the rugs, being suspended more or less vertically, cannot be viewed satisfactorily by the customer, inasmuchas the coloring of the rug depends largely upon the angle which the light makes with the nap.

This last mentioned objection has longbeen realized by those who display and exhibit rugs with the result that resort has been had to the simple idea of stacking the rugs in piles in order that they may be viewed in the position in which they are ordinarily used. However, the rugs, being of considerable weight, are difiicult to handle when stacked one upon the other, it being usually necessary to employ two men solely for the purpose of throwing each rug back upon itself in order to bring to view the next rug in the stack. Needless to say, this procedure is quite expensive, due to the cost of the labor involved and also due to thetime consumed in going through a stack of rugs of moderate number. It is true that ideas have been advanced from time totime having in mind to obviate the objections encountered in displayng and exnot appear that the problem has ever been entirely solved. One of these ideas has been to fasten a number of rugstogether, end for end, to form a continuous strip adapted to be wound upon one reel and unwound from another reel. A disadvantage ofthis arrangement has been that the number of ru s which can be so fastened together for su sequent winding upon a. reel is limited, especially where the rugs are of good quality having relatively heavy naps, inasmuch as the diameter of the rugs on either the driving or driven roll soon becomes too large to be conveniently handled. Further, there is the disadvantage which is attendant upon fastening the rugs together, with the still further disadvantage thatin such an arrangement the tendency is to subject the rugs to an undesirable tension.

It is among the principal objects of the present invention to obviate the aforementioned difliculties and objections by providing a mechanism which is adapted to display a series of rugs with greater facility than has ever been possible heretofore.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus for displaying rugs which is so arranged as to permit the rugs to be successively presented to the view of the observer at an angle which. most satisfactorily brings out the color and design of the rug under examination.

A further object of the invention is these provision of an apparatus which is operable automatically to successively exhibit a series of rugs in a horizontal osition or in a position making any desire angle with the hori zontal. V

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for successively displaying a series of rugs, the mechanism being so designed as to receive said rugs without subjecting them to undesirable tension, and .00

being further provided with means arranged to permit each of the rugs to be quickly and conveniently secured in position or as quick- 1y removed therefrom.

, ratus;

Other objects and objects relating to details of economy and construction will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination, location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will appear more fully hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawings, and as finally pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that the d 'awings show and the follow ing specification describes a preferred form of the invention and that changes may be made from time to time without departing from the principles of the 'ivention as defined in the claims.

In the said drawings Figure 1 shows a top plan view of the major portion of an apparatus embodying the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the appa- Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a portion of the apparatus;

Figure l is a section taken on the line as of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of a niodilied form of apparatus; and

Figure 7 is a view taken on the line 1-4? of V Figure 1.

the apparatus are a number of horizontally Referring more particularly to the drawings, itwill be seen that the apparatus generally is indicated by the reference numeral 10. Suitably journalled at the rear end of extending rollers 11, these rollers 11 being vertically spaced one above the other a substantially uniform distance apart. Each of these rollers 11 is provided with a toothed sprocket Wheel 12 at the opposite end thereof. Suitably journalled at the forward end. of the machine are a corresponding number of rollers 18, these latter rollers being also vertically spaced one above the other a Silllfittl11- tially uniform distance apart. As in the case of the rollers 11, the rollers 13 are also provided with sprocket wheels 14 at opposite ends thereof, these sprocket wheels 14 being respectively located in such manner that their axes lie in horizontal planes lying be tween the planes of the axes of the rear sprocket wheels 12.

In the particular form of construction shown in Figures 1 and 2, a transversely extending roller 15 is provided which is located a substantial. distance forwardly of the vertical plane of the rollers 13. This forwardly disposed roller 15 is also provided with sprocket wheels 16 at opposite ends thereof, it being understood that all of the rollers lying to one side of the apparatus lie in a common vertical plane while all of the rollers lying to theother side thereof lie in a plane paralleling said vertical plane.

Arranged to pass back and forth over the sprocket wheels lying to either side of the apparatus are a pair of endless conveyor chains 17. Due to the fact that the wheels 14: are staggered with respect to the wheels 12, the greater portions of these chains travel along vertically spaced substantially parallel paths, as appears most clearly in Figure 2. The inclined sections 18 of these chains, however, extend forwardly and pass over the sprocket wheels 16 of the foremost transversely extending roller 15. Preferably, a pair of upper and lower rollers 19 and 20 are located immediately in front of the forwardly disposed set of rollers 13, these rollers 19 and 20 being respectively provided with sprocket wheels 21 and constituting idlers over which the chains pass.

The rear set of rollers 11 projects to one side of the apparatus, as at 23, and secured to these laterally projecting portions of the rollers 11 are a series of vertically arranged driving wheels 24, the teeth of which are engaged by a driving chain 25 arranged to own monly drive all of said driving wheels in unison. A gear 26 is keyed or otherwise suitably secured to one of the rollers 11, preferably the lowermost one of the series, this gear being arranged for entrainment with the driving gear 27 carried upon the shaft of a motor 28. It will be seen that by virtue of the ar 'angement just described, the conveyor chains 17 will be caused to travel back and forth. over the several sets of rollers in the manner best shown in Figure 2, it being understood that these chains are uniformly spaced apart throughout their entire extent and that their speeds of travel are exactly the same. While under ordinarycircumstances the conveyor chains may be caused to travel in the desired manner, solely through the operation of the driven gear 26 which is secured to the lower roller 11, this latter roller being then the only driving roller, it is preferable to employ the driving chain 25 inasmuch as the latter serves to convert all of the rollers 11 into driving rollers, thereby facilitating the travel of the endless conveyor chains 17.

The several sprocket wheels on either side of the apparatus, and accordingly the conveyor chains 17, may be spaced apart any de sired distance depending entirely upon the width ofthe rugs which are intended to be accommodated in the apparatus, all of which are of the same or approximately the same. width. Extending transversely across the apparatus with the opposite ends thereof sccured in any desi able manner to the chains 17 are a plurality of bars 29, one such bar being preferably employed for each endof a rug 30. (See Figure 1.) Obviously, these bars may be spaced apart any desirable di tance, depending upon the lengths of the rugs, it being preferable to arrange them in such manner that when the rugs 30 are superimlbu posed one above the other, as shown in Figure 2, the barswill form two sets lying respectively in the vertical planes of the rollers 11 and 13. The end of each bar is preferably slotted, as at 31, for reception of the inwardly projecting lugs 32 carried at longitudinally spaced intervals by the conveyor chains 17. Suitable pins 33 pass through the slotted ends of the bars and through the lugs 32 for maintaining the bars in fixed position with respect to the conveyor chains.

Each of the bars 29 has secured thereto, preferably by rivets 34, a plurality of spring pressed clamps 34, between the jaws of which is firmly grasped the end of a rug 30 in the manner most clearly shown in Figure 5. If desired. a plurality of similar spring pressed clamps 35 may be provided for firmly grasping the side edges of the rugs, these clamps 35 being secured, by the pins 36, to projecting lugs 37 carried by the chains 17, these lugs 37 being similar in all respects to the lugs 32 between which the bars 29 are supported. Preferably, the pins 33 and 36 are removable in order to more readily permit changes being made in the longitudinal spacing of the bars 29 and side clamps 35 when the lengths of the rugs are varied.

In the particular arrangement shown in Figure 2, a total of twenty rugs is accommodated in the apparatus, eighteen of these rugs being normally arranged in superimposed, or stacked relation, while the remaining two rugs are located upon the forwardly extending inclined portions of the conveyor. It is the upper of these two rugs which is on view before the purchaser, this rug being displaced by the one next succeeding it and so on as long as the motor 28 is operated and the conveyor chains 17 continue to travel over the sprocket wheels. Obviously, it is a simple matter to stop the motor to give the purchaser an opportunity to more closely examine that rug in which his interest enters.

It is, of course, possible by the use of one or more rollers to change the course of travel of the rugs through the actual exhibiting section of the apparatus, Figure 6 illustrating how one such change may be effected. In the arrangement shownin this figure, the rug under observation is designed to travel in a substantially horizontally extending plane, the arrangement being in all other respects substantially similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The advantages of the arrangements herein described and illustrated are numerous and quite obvious. By reason of the fact that each rug is individually secured in position between a pair of cross bars 29, the rugs are each subjected to a minimum tension, thus avoiding to great extent, if not entirely eliminating, all wear and tear during the continual process of exhibiting them to prosspective purchasers. The apparatusmaterially facilitates the rapid exhibition of all of the rugs accommodated therein at the same time that the customer is given an opportunity to examine them more leisurely if he so desires and in a much more satisfactory mannerthan has ever been possible heretofore. Still further, the rugs may be removed from the apparatus and others readily substituted in their place as the occasion warrants. And still further, the apparatus is not only compact and efficient in operation, but is also adaptable for exhibiting rugs of various widths and lengths.

It is to be understood, of course, that various changes may be made from time to time without departing from the real spirit or principles of the invention, and it is accordingly intended to claim the invention broadly as well as specfically, as indicated by the appended claims. i

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a rug exhibiting apparatus, a lurality of rollers arranged in two space series, a pair of laterally spaced conve or elements having longitudinally space transverse bars extending therebetween, said elements being arranged to simultaneously travel back. and forth over said series of rollers along substantially parallel paths, means for directing the travel of said elements and bars along the path substantially equal in length to that of a rug and extending forwardly of said parallel paths, means for detachably supporting a pluralit of rugs between said conveyor elements and are, and means for transmitting motion to" said elements whereby to cause said rugs to successively travel over said horizontal path.

2. A rug exhibiting apparatus, a plurality of rollers arranged in two spaced series an endless conveyor having bars extending transversely therebetween for travelling back and forth over said rollers along a number of vertically spaced substantially parallel paths, an auxiliary roller spaced in advance of said series of rollers for directing travel of said conveyor over a substantially horizontal path extending forwardly of said parallel paths, means for supporting a plurality of rugs upon said endless conveyor and between adjacent pairs of said transverse bars, said forwardly extending path being of a length sufiicient to present only one rug to view in its entirety at any time, and means for transmitting motion to said conveyor whereby to cause said rugs to successively travel over said forwardly extending horizontal path. p

3. In a rug exhibiting apparatus, a plurality of rollers arranged in two spaced series, a pair of laterally spaced conveyor chains having transverse bars extending therebetween for connecting the same together, said chains being adapted to travel back and forth over said rollers such that portions thereof traverse substantially parallel paths, means for securing a rug between said chains and adjacent pairs of said transversely extending bars, and means for removably securing said transverse bars in ad justed position between said chains whereby said bars may be spaced apart a greater or less distance. 10

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

GEORGE J. SEGAL. 

